PORTLAND UNITED 4

HYTHE & DIBDEN 0

PORTLAND United delivered their second straight 4-0 win at home, Hythe & Dibden the latest victims at the Camp & Satherley Stadium.

Portland stay 16th and are now four points clear of the drop zone in the Wessex League Premier Division, with 19th and 20th places suffering relegation.

But Portland appear to be gathering momentum under new boss Kyle Critchell, who remains unbeaten at home since succeeding Franklyn Clarke.

This was Critchell’s third consecutive victory at home and the Blues did it after two early setbacks.

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Josh Williams pulled out of the starting line-up with sickness, later sitting on the bench, before George Stuttle suffered yet another injury blow with an Achilles problem.

Stuttle was replaced by the returning Ben Morris and Portland did not have to wait long afterwards to open the scoring, Brin Doyle finding the bottom-left corner with a pinpoint strike.

Morris and Doyle worked Hythe keeper James Mayo into solid saves while his opposite number Brad Smith was kept busy by Oliver Bradley’s effort.

After the break, Morris marked his first appearance since a broken hand by scoring the Blues’ second goal, tucking home after Greg Borthwick flicked Bailey Rowe’s cross into his path.

And Rowe connected with Borthwick again for Portland’s third, his cross picking out the striker to score after Rowe and Morris had combined to good effect in the build-up.

Hythe pressured for a consolation but found the Portland defence in unrelenting mood, making key blocks at crucial moments.

And with time ticking down, Rowe made it 4-0 after Portland had a shot blocked on the line.

Speaking to Echosport, Critchell was highly satisfied with a big three points.

He said: “We’re making steady progress and two training sessions this week really helped us nail down what we were going to do.

“We ran out comfortable winners. It was a good day at the office, the lads can take credit and we go into another important game on Saturday.

“We’ve got nine games remaining so we definitely needed to get something. Our home form is really important.

“We had to do that through adversity as Josh dropped out in the warm-up and then George went off after eight minutes.

“We had to change and adapt and the lads did amazingly well to overcome those adversities to claim three points and another four goals.”

Portland host Cowes Sports next Saturday (3pm), while their visit to Bemerton on Tuesday, March 14 has been postponed due to Harlequins’ involvement in the Russell-Cotes Cup.

Blues: B Smith, Harvey, Stuttle, Bessant, Callow, Doyle, McKechnie, Rowe, Borthwick (Scott 75), Symes, Delves (Diaz 87).

Attendance: 137

Match sponsor: Mark Caswell

Match ball sponsors: Charlie & Ann Bilke

Mascots: Jack Pennington, Teddy Endean and Williams Gould